US jets strike Sadr City

US warplanes have pounded Baghdad's Sadr City only hours after car bombs killed at least 26 people in two Iraqi cities.

05 Oct 2004 12:23 GMT

At least 12 tanks have been seen entering the suburb

Witnesses said American AC-130 aircraft were used in the attack on the suburb, home to more than two million people.

"I heard explosions. AC-130 planes were firing," said a Sadr City resident, who added that he saw

at least 12 tanks moving into the suburb.

An Iraqi journalist told Aljazeera that attempts by a US convoy to enter the city were repelled by fighters.

Two explosive devices were detonated near the convoy. However, there were no casualties.

Helicopters could be heard in Baghdad heading in the direction of Sadr City.

The attack on the slum, a stronghold of Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, was part of an offensive by US-led forces against fighters opposed to the US presence in the country before elections scheduled for January.

Car blast

A car bomb exploded on Tuesday as the Iraqi national guard was conducting raids in Yusufiya, a city south of Baghdad, killing at least one person and injuring 13, police said.

Car bombs rocked Baghdad andMosul on Monday

Nine guardsmen were among the wounded in Yusufiya, 20km south of the capital, said police Lieutenant Abbas Shashati.

The remaining dead and wounded were civilian bystanders, he said.

Shashati ruled out a human bomber, saying the vehicle packed with explosives was parked at the time of the blast.

Earlier on Tuesday

an explosion rocked the crowded al-Nahda area in Baghdad, but no further details were available.

Another explosion was heard west of Baghdad, possibly in the Abu Ghraib area, an Iraqi journalist told Aljazeera. Further details could not be verified.

Other air strikes

On Monday, at least 26 people died and more than 100 people were wounded as bombers struck twice in Baghdad and once in the northern city of Mosul.

Air strikes were also launched in Falluja, and in Samarra operations to restore the interim government's control continued.

In a 36-hour blitz, about 3000 US troops and 2000 Iraqi soldiers backed by US warplanes and artillery stormed Samarra, 100km north of Baghdad, in an effort to dislodge an estimated 500 to 1000 armed fighters.

US forces said they killed 125 fighters and captured 88 in the assault, which destroyed dozens of buildings, and according to locals, inflicted a heavy toll on civilians.